Abstract

Concomitant with the evolution of biological diversity must have been the evolution of mechanisms that facilitate evolution, because of the essentially infinite complexity of protein sequence space. We describe how evolvability can be an object of Darwinian selection, emphasizing the collective nature of the process. We quantify our theory with computer simulations of protein evolution. These simulations demonstrate that rapid or dramatic environmental change leads to selection for greater evolvability. The selective pressure for large-scale genetic moves such as DNA exchange becomes increasingly strong as the environmental conditions become more uncertain. Our results demonstrate that evolvability is a selectable trait and allow for the explanation of a large body of experimental results.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Kevin R. Foster for a careful reading of the manuscript. This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published in

The cover image for PNAS Vol.101; No.32
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Vol. 101 | No. 32
August 10, 2004
PubMed: 15289608

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Submission history

Received: April 19, 2004
Published online: August 2, 2004
Published in issue: August 10, 2004

Acknowledgments

We thank Kevin R. Foster for a careful reading of the manuscript. This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Authors

Affiliations

David J. Earl
Department of Bioengineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005-1892
Michael W. Deem*
Department of Bioengineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005-1892

Notes

*
To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Bioengineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS 142, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005-1892. E-mail: [email protected].
Communicated by David Chandler, University of California, Berkeley, CA, June 30, 2004

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    Evolvability is a selectable trait
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
    • Vol. 101
    • No. 32
    • pp. 11527-11914

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